Sage of Legend
by Joshua d Williams
Summary: Shinju is merely a seed of a larger more powerful entity known as the Beast of A Hundred Eyes. The Naruto Universe has brought into being another Sage to fight the Beast.


**Prologue**

_Eyes of the Worldender_

**B**efore the time of the great savior Uzumaki Naruto, the first coming of the Sage of Six Paths, and the start of creation; there was a fierce battle. The Beast of a Hundred Eyes fought with the God of Creation. These battles took place throughout the rise and fall of many worlds; as life was sparked in a fiery burst, put out as the stars blew apart, and reignited in another burst of creation. The God of Creation protected this cycle as the Beast tried to destroy it, so that it could cast the worlds into endless night. They fought many wars, so closely matched as if they were a blade balancing on a knife's edge. The age of Naruto brought with it a great wonder that has never been seen or heard of before. The gods that chronicled the conflict between the God and Beast felt it with age that they should not have discerned. Life that once burned strong and bright like an eternal star faded instead, as a doused flame. Undying flesh changed to dust and blew away in the cosmic wind. The Advent of a Second Sage of Paths caused immortals to die.

They raged against this fate and strove to solve the problem of their imminent death to no avail. Even as the beast fought the God of Creation he sought to trick them, telling the gods that the coming of new Sages meant that they would be subject to the laws of mortals; that they would live, die, eat and breathe as all mortals do unless something was done about it. Soon the God of Creation faced both the might of the creature and that of his fellow gods who now called themselves, Amortals. As the Beast and his army of gods turned upon the creator to wipe him from creation, the world brought forth a new savior. The Beast and his army then vowed to kill the newborn and cast the world into oblivion. The birth of the Sage of Legend heralded the beginning of the end of all things.

The young woman gripped the scroll hard, crinkling the paper, and causing the old man to wince. Her face was pale and her unique eyes distant, as he tried to peel her fingers from the precious parchment. The scroll was a thousand years old and priceless, as beautiful as the woman was he could not let her ruin it. A tear quivered on her cheek as he pulled at her surprisingly strong hands, shining like a drop of crystal in the light above them.

"Oh dear, are you ok?" He asked still struggling to get the scroll back from her, "What's wrong? It's only an old myth told to entertain children and old men,"

He gasped as the tear fell from her perfect cheekbone and splashed against the old scroll.

"You'll ruin it!" He snapped, tugging at the scroll with more force.

She released it and caught off guard he overbalanced and fell back against a shelf full of old tomes, spilling them across the smooth wood floor.

"I'm sorry," She said, so softly he could barely hear her.

The library was a small dusty room cut into the base of a great dying tree. A single table and two chairs sat in its center, and shelves filled with tomes, scrolls, and codices, lined the walls. He grumbled as he got to his feet still clutching the scroll but when his eyes met hers he could not help but feel as if it was his fault. How could he yell at such a delightful creature, even if it was over one of his most prized possessions? How could he even think around those pools of color, that most would call eyes? Or hair like spun silver, full lips, and a well-shaped form not in the least hindered by a belly as round and full as any mother in their full term.

"Thank you for all your help Orukun-san," She said bowing respectfully "I must go,"

"…No it I who am sorry…Uh…I didn't mean…Uh," Responded Orukun,

She disappeared before the greybeard finished. Orukun could not help but take a deep breath to fill his lungs with the marvelous perfume she left in her wake. He shook his head as he considered the strange woman. _She moves far too well for one so close to giving birth!_ _Still where is her husband? What sort of man would let a woman like that wonder around without an escort?_ As Orukun thought about her his thoughts drifted back to the scroll she asked him for: 'The Tale of the Sage of Legend'. He glanced at the spot where her tear fell. At the very least the liquid did not touch any lettering it was right at the end of passage talking about the characteristics of the Sage of Legend.

His eyes shall be a wonder in the world. His eyes shall make the world tremble as than the eye of Shinju in its perfection. They will be blessed in color of blood and royalty, shades of red and gold that will purify the cosmos.

_It means nothing!_ She told herself as walked from the old story-tellers tree deeper into the forest. _Your eyes have been changing colors since you were a child, what does it matter if it changes to red and gold? It doesn't matter that your eyes never changed to that color before you got pregnant. It doesn't matter that the man with similar eyes told you how to find the answer behind your new eyes._

The night fell before she reached the tree of Orukun, but now darkness filled the space beneath the trees like black curtains. Still the woman had no problems making it back to her camp. Elemental Jutsu allowed her to clear a patch of earth and make it as soft as any bed. She folded her legs down beneath her next to her pack, and sat to consider all that she learned. The night was almost cool enough to freeze but she did not make a fire, the temperature did not bother her. The shinobi world was at war again. There were rumors of men with godlike power laying waste to entire armies of shinobi. That worried her a little. There was even tales of spirits so powerful that they could equal the myth of the Juubi. That worried her more; she fought a lesser version of the creature before and knew how powerful it was. However what bothered her most was that the child in her belly may be the one that would destroy the world.


End file.
